Why Programs Fail

An award-winning guide to faster and easier debugging is now updated with the latest tools and techniques. It demystifies one of the toughest aspects of software programming, showing clearly how to discover what caused software failures, and fix them with minimal muss and fuss.

Why Programs Fail: A Guide to Systematic Debugging is proof that debugging has graduated from a black art to a systematic discipline. It demystifies one of the toughest aspects of software programming, showing clearly how to discover what caused software failures, and fix them with minimal muss and fuss. The fully updated second edition includes 100+ pages of new material, including new chapters on Verifying Code, Predicting Erors, and Preventing Errors. Cutting-edge tools such as FindBUGS and AGITAR are explained, techniques from integrated environments like Jazz.net are highlighted, and all-new demos with ESC/Java and Spec#, Eclipse and Mozilla are included. This complete and pragmatic overview of debugging is authored by Andreas Zeller, the talented researcher who developed the GNU Data Display Debugger(DDD), a tool that over 250,000 professionals use to visualize the data structures of programs while they are running. Unlike other books on debugging, Zeller's text is product agnostic, appropriate for all programming languages and skill levels. The book explains best practices ranging from systematically tracking error reports, to observing symptoms, reproducing errors, and correcting defects. It covers a wide range of tools and techniques from hands-on observation to fully automated diagnoses, and also explores the author's innovative techniques for isolating minimal input to reproduce an error and for tracking cause and effect through a program. It even includes instructions on how to create automated debugging tools. The text includes exercises and extensive references for further study, and a companion website with source code for all examples and additional debugging resources is available. The new edition of this award-winning productivity-booster is for any developer who has ever been frustrated by elusive bugs Brand new chapters demonstrate cutting-edge debugging techniques and tools, enabling readers to put the latest time-saving developments to work for them Learn by doing. New exercises and detailed examples focus on emerging tools, languages and environments, including AGITAR, FindBUGS, Python and Eclipse.

More than ever the international reference work for managers and specialists, the new Fourth Edition of this classic desktop guide defines how to plan, produce, control, and continually improve quality companywide for the 1990s -- from the executive suite to the factory floor.

The articles in this monograph provide a framework for reflecting on a variety of educational issues. In section one the historical roots of teacher education are examined. The second section deals more directly with what a teacher is and how the definitional properties of "the teacher" begin to dictate a curriculum for teacher education. The impact of regulation and testing on teacher education is the focus of the third section. The final chapter describes the nature of the federal government's involvement with teacher education. The following papers were selected from papers prepared for the National Commission for Excellence in Teacher Education: (1) "An Evaluation of the Rationale for Required Teacher Education: Beginning Teachers with and without Teacher Preparation" (Martin Haberman); (2) "From Quantity to Quality Teacher Education in Britain" (Harry Judge); (3) "Recent Reports on Education: Some Implications for Preparing Teachers" (Edward J. Meade); (4) "The Nebraska Consortium for the Improvement of Teacher Education" (Mary M. Kluender); (5) "The Implications for Teacher Education of Computer Technology" (Barbara Dubitsky); (6) "Preparing Teachers for Schools of Choice" (Mary Anne Raywid); (7) "Defining the Excellent Teacher Preparation Program" (Norma Nutter); (8) "Toward a More Desirable Profession" (Sharon P. Robinson); (9) "Testing Teachers for Certification and Recertification" (Eva C. Galambos); (10) "Performance-Based Certification in Georgia: Present and Future" (J. William Leach and Lester Solomon); (11) "Post Certification Development of Teachers and Administrators" (Richard C. Wallace); (12) "Quality Control of Teacher Preparation Programs through the Program Approval Process" (Herman E. Behling); and (13) "Excellence in Teacher Education: Options for a Federal Partnership" (David H. Florio). (JD)